Public Story
An Awfully Human Being
Jake Shiptenko
February 14th, 1998
jakeshiptenkofilms@gmail.com
https://www.jakeshiptenkofilms.com/
Language of film: English
Location of filming: Atlanta, GA - USA
Sample of Director’s Previous Work: https://vimeo.com/485586135/6613993274
Visura Profile: https://visura.co/shiptenko/bio
The Story
Full Script Already Completed
Estimated Length: 15 min
Director/Writer: Jake Shiptenko
Producer: Alex Smithline
Cinematographer: Wesley Diaz
Logline: After the sudden death of his younger brother, Jesse detaches from life until a powerful musical performance reinvigorates his sense of self worth.
Our story begins on June 22nd, Jesse, a 24 year-old burnout, stands amidst a crowd of grieving people as he watches his younger brother’s casket descend into the ground. A combination of weed, alcohol, and painkillers overtake Jesse’s consciousness as he blacks out mid-funeral.
Months later, he watches the countdown of the New Year on his couch, alone. He smokes a cigarette while intermittently sipping from a bottle of bourbon. Fighting off a drunken sleep, his head bobs up and down until he loses his grip on the bottle. Next, the cigarette falls to the couch, and Jesse falls asleep. The couch begins lightly smoking as the front door opens, and Jesse’s roommate, Kyle, comes in with his girlfriend, Emma. Kyle immediately puts out the small flame on the couch, and then tosses a pillow at Jesse to wake him. Kyle urges him to go as Emma helps clean up Jesse’s mess. With the small sliver of control he has left, Jesse stands and drunkenly stomps into his room.
The next morning, Jesse wakes up in his bed with a hangover. He goes to the bathroom and takes Advil, when a friend calls to get him to come over and hangout. Driving, he sings along to rap music paying special attention to the lyrics. On the phone with his mom, Jesse fills up on gas. Only later does he realize that he mistakenly chose the premium gas, costing him extra money. Furious, he pulls at his hair and mutters insults at himself until he calms down.
At his friend’s place, Jesse smokes on a blunt with his three friends as they each take turns doing whippits. For Jesse’s turn, he doubles his dosage and thoroughly experiences the nitrous oxide high. When asked to get dinner with his friends, he lies saying he has to work. That night, he works on a poem for his brother. As honesty pours from his pen, Jesse retracts from the intense feelings that are bubbling inside of him. He tears out the poem in anger and retreats to his bathroom. He takes a moment to look deep into his own eyes and begins to hate what he sees. He slaps himself in the face again and again, hoping to see something different in the mirror, but it’s his face every time.
A week later, Jesse arrives at his parents house in the suburbs dressed in a nice jacket and slacks. His mother, Carrie, inquires about his poetry. Jesse dismisses her saying it was just for fun. His father, Noah, comes out dressed just as nicely as him.
Noah takes Jesse out for a night at an upscale piano bar. The mood is calming as a pianist performs on stage. Jesse and Noah discuss the pain they’ve felt since Elliot’s death. Worried about his parent’s marriage, Noah honestly informs Jesse that Carrie and him are trying their best to work through the tragedy, reassuring him that it will all be okay. Noah leaves for the bathroom as a new piano player takes the stage. Alone, Jesse decides to key in on the performance. The pianist begins performing “Happy Life” by Roland Faunte. The longer the song goes; the deeper Jesse sinks into the performance. He bears a strong emotional connection to the performer, and he begins empathising with the song. It reminds him of the beauty in life and the power of art, eventually bringing him to tears as the song climaxes. That night, Jesse begins working obsessively on his poems, unafraid to feel and excited to explore his truth.
The next morning, Carrie arrives to take Jesse out for lunch. Jesse is doing his part as a roommate; cleaning off dishes, pots, and pans in the kitchen. Carrie wanders into his bedroom as he cleans. She looks around the room when she notices his notebook on the desk. She opens it and begins reading. Tears form on the rim of her eyes as she reads. Jesse calls out to her. She frantically takes a picture of the poem she’s reading and exits the room. They leave the apartment; it’s still, calm, and warm.
Artistic Vision
The film itself will have the feel of films like Boyhood, Waves, Perks of Being a Wallflower, Ordinary People, and Eighth Grade. Visually, I plan for it to look and function like my feature-length thesis film, The Plymouth Period. I submitted the final 10 minutes of that film as my example of previous work.
I try to connect with something deeply important to me when telling a story. I want to portray reality the way I experience it, and therefore, I need a visual style that feels human and real. This leads me to lean on handheld camera work usually. I selectively use ADR and attempt to get quality sound takes from on set. I spend long hours in sound design to craft a hyperrealistic soundscape filled with minuscule details to bring the moments on film to life. I tend to drift towards earth and nature inspired color tones; having my characters wear green, yellow, blue, and brown most of the time. For this film, I will be including pink into the scheme to make the main character, Jesse, stand out from the "real world". I try to walk the line between documentary and stylized film. This bleeds into how I direct my actors. I help the actors craft their characters using a mix of their own memories and the fictional history of the character. This creates a reality rooted performance with flexibility into the unknowns of human drama and emotion. These aspects of my craft come from the decisions I make when writing the script. I embrace the minutiae of everyday moments to convey important things about a character.
The story of this film, at its core, is about the depression young adults go through in a world of over-stimulation. I've seen it in my friends, my family, and myself, and it breaks my heart to say that I have lost people that meant a lot to me because of it. I offer the answer that I found for myself, which was understanding my emotions through expression in art. I'm saying all this because I want you to know how seriously I plan to take the creation of this film. It will be at full professional quality and in the end, visually, sonically, and thematically beautiful.
Director's Bio
Jake (23) is a recently graduated film student from Syracuse University's Directing and Writing program living in Atlanta, GA. He studied abroad for a semester after being accepted into the FAMU film school in Prague. As a filmmaker, Jake is intrigued by human relationships expressed through conversation. More specifically, the way in which young adults attempt to grow up and become themselves. The search for identity and self-confidence is complicated and long for many young adults, and he hopes to provide new light, understanding, and catharsis towards this struggle in his work. He has directed, written, and produced seven short films and two micro-budget feature length projects. Jake's most recent film "Dad" was a short film written by two producers who hired Jake to direct the film.
Director's Statement
I began working on this script at the turn of the year, 2021. The amount of people in my life struggling with their mental health had skyrocketed over the lockdown, and I and people close to me lost loved ones to suicide during those months. It was a brutal time to be alive, but that's where I found inspiration for this story. I was depressed at the end of 2020, and I didn’t think I would be the type of person to struggle with depression. I felt compelled to process it all through my artistic medium, filmmaking. To my surprise, it helped me immensely. I ended up writing a 150 page script titled An Awfully Human Being. Using the core elements of that screenplay, I have condensed it down to a 10 page script. The shortened version highlights the pain, confusion, and anger that a sudden death brings into your mind, heart, and body. Jesse can’t process it all and attempts to run from fully confronting these emotions. Resultantly, he gives up on himself and his artistic medium, poetry. He is unable to bring himself to write about the loss of his brother. It is only after witnessing a surreal musical performance one night that Jesse is reminded that he was never alone in his pain and that he can use his pain and complicated emotions to help himself and others. It’s a story about the power of art, emotion, and expression, while honestly portraying the dark mindset young adults find themselves experiencing in this over-stimulated world. An Awfully Human Being will resonate with audiences because it offers a beacon of hope that does not yet exist in a modern day story. My hope is that it will positively affect anyone who watches it.
Inclusion Statement
Inclusivity is an important aspect of making art. I believe film is the most collaborative art form, and I believe film is a reflection of reality. It would be doing an injustice to the film to not include diverse voices on the film’s cast and crew. My circle of connections and friends working in film are all beautiful and amazing people that I would be lucky to work with. I haven't been able to confirm every position of the production yet, but to me, it will be a platform to represent the unrepresented. They are my friends who have shown me love and support, and I cannot wait to work with them.
Currently, there are only two main members of the crew confirmed. The producer on the project, Alex Smithline, is of Jewish descent and has great experience in bringing projects to life. We previously worked together to make my thesis film. The cinematographer from that project, Wesley Diaz, is a second-generation Cuban-American who has found deep passion for the art of image. We are close friends, and he agreed to work with me on this film.
For the rest of the crew, I have made many friends from being in film school and plan to add them to our crew. Megan Massey who is a Wisconsin born writer-director who has worked with me as script supervisor and should hopefully be available for this project. Kati Weems is an African-American Atlanta born key grip who also worked with me on my thesis. She should hopefully be available to work on this project. An extremely talented Asain-American gaffer, Kevin Tsai, is another member we would love to have on the crew if they are available. My roomate, Brian Fitzgerald, is a bisexual Irish-Catholic American who worked as my co-editor on my thesis film. He has agreed to be co-editor on this project as well as long as work doesn't interfere.
Budget
Cast: $1,625
We plan to cast all the actors using Backstage. The piano player we have someone in mind, a close friend who is willing to do the role for $50.
- Jesse: $500
- For full 4 day shoot and rehearsal time
- Carrie: $300
- For 2.5 days of shoot and rehearsal time
- Noah: $300
- For 2.5 days of shoot and rehearsal time
- Kyle: $50
- For 0.5 days of shoot and rehearsal time
- Emma: $50
- For 0.5 days of shoot and rehearsal time
- Henry: $50
- For 0.5 days of shoot and rehearsal time
- Ayush: $50
- For 0.5 days of shoot and rehearsal time
- Matthew: $50
- For 0.5 days of shoot and rehearsal time
- Piano Player: $50
- For 0.5 days of shoot
- Singer/Piano Player #2: $150
- For 0.5 days of shoot and rehearsal time
- Drummer: $75
- For 0.5 days of shoot and rehearsal time
Crew: $3,700
We plan to work with an assortment of friends from film school and connections we’ve made with people outside of school. These prices are budget friendly, but also realistic for a 4-day shoot. I am used to working with an 8-person crew. The only piece that is different with this crew is not having a script supervisor. Our producer will serve that role on set.
- Producer: $600
- Cinematographer: $600
- Assistant Camera: $500
- Sound Mixer: $500
- Boom Operator: $500
- Grip (x2): $500
Props: $400
Props prices have been researched and the budget allows for $100 extra in flexibility as well for unseen purchases.
- Cigarettes, Bourbon, Whiskey, Throw Pillow, Lamp, Advil, Gas, Fake Drugs, and Notebook
Locations: $1,400
The apartment, Jesse’s Car, friend’s apartment, and parent’s house are all locations already secured through connections of friends and family in the NYC/NJ area. I have reached out to the ideal locations to obtain accurate estimates for the cemetery, gas station, and piano bar.
- Apartment: $0
- Cemetery: $150
- Jesse’s Car: $0
- Gas Station: $100
- Friends Apartment: $0
- Parent’s House: $0
- Antonio’s Piano Bar: $1,000
Equipment: $5,200
Between my friends and colleagues, we own certain pieces of equipment (such as a full professional level sound department).
- Camera and Lenses: $3,000
- Lights: $1,500
- Dolly: $400
- Zoom Lens: $300
Post-Production: $1,000
The cinematographer I plan to work with has agreed to do the color for the film for free. I have a composer I’ve worked with before who has agreed to work for only $100 on this project. I have a sound designer I have worked with on my feature who has agreed to do this project for $500.
- Color: $0
- Sound Design: $500
- Composer: $100
- DCP: $400
Miscellaneous: $2,800
We have budgeted for extras for the funeral scene and piano bar scene. The producer and I will handle production design, and we have come to settle on a $500 budget. In the past, I have worked with actors to build costumes from their personal wardrobe. The $500 budget is to give us some leeway for buying specialty costume pieces we will need (suit coat, gold chain, beanie, etc.) I have reached out to the artist Roland Faunte on social media about using his song “Happy Life” in the film. He says we may use it for $300. Finally, our food plan for the 4-day shoot is covered by our budgeted $500.
- Extras: $1000
- Production Design: $500
- Costumes: $500
- Copyrights: $300
- Food: $500
Using the grant money and money from my savings, we will be able to successfully produce this project. We have the funding and will move forward with production as laid out in our timeline. If awarded the grant, we will put the full $5,000 towards the film and make it a better product by securing nicer lenses, nicer cameras, more rehearsal time, an extra crew member, and better production and costume design. Overall, it will greatly help improve the quality of the film!
Timeline
- October 15th: Begin Preproduction and Launch Instagram Page
- October 20th: All Crew Members Confirmed for Shoot
- October 29th-30th: In Person Auditions
- November 1st: Copyright for “Happy Life” Song Secured
- November 15th: Shot List and Storyboard Finalized
- November 15th: Cast Finalized
- November 19th-20th: Cast Rehearsal Days
- November 26th: Equipment Plan Finalized and Reservations Submitted
- December 1st: Locations Finalized and Secured
- December 5th: Extras Hiring Completed (for Day 3 and Day 4 of Shoot)
- December 5th: Prop Gathering, Costume Design, and Plan for Production Design Complete
- December 10th-11th: Final Cast Rehearsal Days
- December 15th - December 19th: 4 Day Shoot Of the Film
- January 15th: First Rough Cut Completed
- February 20th: Final Cut/Image Lock Completed
- April 1st: Color Correction and Grade Completed
- April 1st: Sound Design Completed
- April 1st: Musical Score Completed
- April 10th: Full Final Cut Assembled and Send out for DCP
- April 15th, 2022: Film Entirely Complete
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